The Good Sort

The Good Sort is adorable hole-in-the-wall pink walled Australian café outfitted with flowers and girly tchotchke. With such a feminine decor, it’s hard to look back in time and guess what once occupied it’s space. Situated on Doyers Street, a street known historically as the “Bloody Angle” due to it having the highest recorded murder count of any street in the country and possibly the world. I won’t get too deep into the story but it’s safe to say that the street was once home to two rival Chinese gangs. The story is really cool. I dove down the rabbit hole of a google search and read all about it. I digress. The key word here is “historically”. Now, new delicious restaurants are popping up on this street amongst which is of course The Good Sort.

If you’re thinking this is another Australian café where you are going to get your avocado toast and a cup of coffee, be ready to be surprised! The Good Sort is bringing a refreshing new take on the concept of what the Australian café is in New York. Perhaps its due to the influences of its Chinatown location or the co-ownership of Australian Eddy Buckingham and his Chinese partner Jeff Lam, but the focus here is the congee bowl. For those new to congee, it is a kind of rice porridge. Using congee, which is super popular in many Asian countries, as a base and topping it with the fresh flavors that are associated with a Australian Cafés, their modestly sized menu is comprised of four flavorful hand crafted bowls. There is a congee for every mood. If you’re feeling fresh and eager for the day to come, the Breakfast Congee is a must. If you’re calming down and feeling nostalgic, go with the Pear Crumble Congee. You get the idea.

Either way, when you are there, you have to get one of their signature lattes. Aside from being picture perfect in that they are vibrantly colored, or in the case of the charcoal based one, solid black, they are each so uniquely flavored. If you’re a latte lover, you are going to have too much fun with these! If you’re a social media fiend, these are going to add that perfect splash of color to your Instagram account.

Since their website is super limited, here are the congee bowls that were available when I was there so you can get a better idea!